We paid Shatta Wale and Agya Koo but contract prevents us from disclosing amount – Exim Bank PRO

The Corporate Affairs Manager of the Ghana Exim Bank, Richard Anane, has admitted that the bank made some upfront payments to artiste, Shatta Wale, and actor, Agya Koo through a company it contracted for the purposes of promoting “Made in Ghana” goods.

He has however stressed that the amounts of GHc 2 million quoted for Shatta Wale and GHC 250,000 for Agyakoo are false.

 Speaking to Joy FM’s News Night programme Thursday monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Mr Anane explained that the contractual agreements reached with the artistes bar the bank from publicly disclosing the amounts paid to the artistes.

But he insisted the amounts are way below the amounts alleged by Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu, Ras Mubarak, who first raised the issue at the Public Accounts Committee(PAC) meeting earlier this week.

Mr Anane dispelled allegations of wastage on the part of the bank, insisting that the payments to the artistes are a good investment and commensurate with the work they will do.

“…we are not misusing the banks funds…the amount that we are giving to these artistes is not that amount that is out of range. It is not!” he emphasized.

Mr Anane maintained that the bank followed every legal process in giving the contract, and remains accountable to the public.

“…We are a public institution. And we are answerable to public institutions. This case came about because an Honourable member alleged that we have paid an amount of GHC 2million to ambassadors. And the bank is stating emphatically that we have not paid that amount to an ambassador…We are ready to be answerable,” he stated.

 There is growing controversy over allegations by Ras Mubarak that the bank made the payments to Shatta Wale and Agya Koo as brand ambassadors for the bank.

Source:MyNewsGh.com